Snowing.

Vaalyun Ilihice stood alone amidst snowy trees. The snow swirled around him. The elf sorcerer fell on his knees and prayed before the dark, night sky. The moon under siege by stars seemed to lighten the night, bringing forth stars that shone and hung in the blackness.

“Gods above, grant me the wisdom to make the right choice.”

The sorcerer-warrior could see a shooting star on the night sky. His prayers had been answered. “This is where I should head to. May Gods bless my journey.”

John opened his eyes. A cacophony of blurs exploded in front of him, a murkiness that seemed impermeable until he blinked a few times and shook hard his head.

“Nice to see you finally awake,” Sara said. “You were seeing some kind of nightmare? Because you were thrashing around in your sleep.”

At first the words were like a dull roar, pounding at his brain like a sledgehammer before he recognized the voice. The blurs shifted completely, turning into a grey ceiling. John sat up in the bed and looked around, seeing Sara and Nicole standing next to him. Sara was the calmer of the two, showing little emotion. Nicole, on the other hand, was overjoyed; she had a wide bright grin on her face and glowed in excitement.

“Where am I?” John asked. He felt as if his head was about to explode. His headache was physically painful. He was still confused as to why he was dreaming of some ancient elf sorcerer. He had heard the name before on K-L556, from William, yet he did not know much about him. He decided to dismiss the whole thing as a silly dream. “Last thing I remember, we were… crashing on El Salvar?”

“You were knocked out during the landing,” Nicole replied. “Thankfully I and Sara were alright and dragged you out of the ship. We headed to Frazzar and got a doctor to treat you; we lied that you had a speeder accident.”

“Yup. Nicole was pretty worried about you,” Sara chuckled. “You should have seen how she was over you the whole time the doctor was treating you.”

Sara couldn’t help but blush, her cheeks taking on a rosy color that suited her. “I was worried just like everyone else in the team would. So… after the doctor treated you, Sara and I brought you here. She made a deal to rent this place for a couple of days.”

“Where exactly is this place?” John wondered. “And how did you rent it?”

“Some apartment in an old skyscraper in one of the poorer neighborhoods of the city,” Sara replied. “I asked the doctor if he knew a place to rent that would not cost a lot and he pointed out this place. The landlord was quite the tough nut to break, but I managed to negotiate a good deal.”

“We must leave this place,” John said as he stood up straight and stretched, feeling the tightness in his muscles. “It won’t be long before X-Corp and the Helians discover where we are hiding to. Plus, we’ve got to get the USB to the Alliance; the files it contains may prove crucial for our struggle.”

“Easy tiger; I’ve spent nearly all our money, not that we had much, to rent this place. We need to find cash to get a starship to get us out of here.”

“Can’t we steal one? I mean… I ain’t really much of a fan of stealing but in this emergency…”

“Security is tight here and unlike in Al-Kwad, we do not have a squad of troopers to aid us and provide distractions,” Sara replied. “We also do not have the element of surprise. The Helians must know that we crashed somewhere here and they will have increased security, especially in spaceports. What we need to do is lie low for a while, find a way to get some cash and escape without creating pandemonium. If we cannot manage this, we may have to steal a ship, but this should be last resort.”

John simply nodded in agreement. There wasn’t much else they could do in this situation. He looked around at the apartment. Two large windows dominated it, both having fist-sized chucks missing that allowed in a whistling, chilly breeze. There were three small beds, a grungy workbench, a cramped and grungy bathroom off one side, an equally grungy kitchen and one table with four torn and stained chairs. Not exactly a great place to live but they would have to do with it.

John headed to the kitchen sink. As he moved, he felt that his movement was slower than usual.

"It's because of the gravity," Nicole explained. "El Salvar has a gravity of about 0.80 g or so."

John scoffed at it. He had been at moons with far less gravity. It wouldn't be long before he got used to it. Upon reaching the sink, he washed his face with cold water. He needed this, both to wake up and to freshen up.

“You are alright?” Nicole asked. “You have completely recovered?”

John nodded. “Yup. I am alright.”

“You should be; you were sleeping for two days. Anyway, we should go look around for information and some way to earn cash,” Sara said as she stuffed her laser pistol into the holster of her hip. “Before bringing you here, I exchanged the laser knife I’ve got for the cash to buy a pistol. Much more useful in our situation.”

Then the three of them exited the apartment. An old man was mopping the floor. He was wearing a plain brown shirt and matching trousers. His hair was white and his face wrinkled yet he had a warm smile on his face. “Hi there! I am the janitor here. Nice to meet you. New tenants? You don’t look like natives to me but you will fit here just right. A lot of people here are not native.”

“Hi,” John replied. Nicole and Sara too waved at the old man. “Yes, we are not from here. What do you mean that there are not many natives here?”

“Most of the rooms here are rented to refugees from Arcadis, that big city in Bremman that was blown up by those Alliance terrorists some time ago,” the old man replied. “A sad, sad thing… Many died there. Those terrorist bastards are true monsters. You cannot believe how many heartbreaking stories of lost relatives and friends I’ve heard. It can make your heart ache. You know, I used to complain about having to work as a janitor in my age rather than enjoying life as a pensioner but after listening to those people, I feel really lucky.”

John couldn’t help but feel that the destruction of Arcadis was partly his fault. It was certainly a heavy burden for any man to feel responsible for the deaths of so many people. He had been able to put it behind of him while he was occupied with training and with the raid in Al-Kwad, yet now here he was face to face with the consequences of his actions. How could he look the other tenants in the eyes, knowing that he may be the reason they lost their loved ones? ‘I’ve got to stop thinking about this,’ he thought to himself, trying to shrug it off but he couldn’t. He felt more and more guilty and was trying hard not to show his feelings. He didn’t want to burden the others with his own emotional troubles.

“Are you one of those refugees?” the janitor asked.

“No, we are just travelers,” Sara replied.

“Ah, young people travelling the world! How I miss youth!” the old man chuckled. “Got to say though, you did not choose the right place to stay. Don’t want to badmouth my boss but those apartments are shoddy and the mafia acts like a protection racket here.”

“Mafia?” Nicole repeated.

“Oh yes. Unfortunately organized crime is prevalent in the poor districts. Didn’t the landlord tell you about that?”

“No, he didn’t!” Sara complained.

“That’s too bad. They come here and beat up anyone who cannot pay protection fees. Sometimes they can cripple some men; as for women, they sometimes sell them in ill reputable places.” This last sentence of the janitor sent shivers down the spines of Sara and Nicole. “The police don’t do anything to stop them. Don’t know why. Maybe they don’t think spending resources to aid some lower class people and refugees from the mobsters is worth the trouble.”

“Thank you; we shall look out for them,” John said.

“Yes. Be careful. It was nice talking to you. Have a nice day!”

Without John’s training to worry about, Iris could finally return to what she did best; fighting against the Helian Realm. It felt good to be again at the front lines instead of being a teacher in a secure base. She had missed not only the action, but the sense that she was actively contributing in the war-effort. It felt like she was making an actual difference being in the front lines.

Iris was at the orc home planet of Xendia. The largest in mass and size habitable planet in the Helian solar system, it had a higher gravity of nearly 1.4 g. It was due to this environment that the orcs evolved to have thicker and stronger bones and muscles compared to humans, making them much more physically stronger.

Iris was equipped with a jet-black battery-powered exoskeleton which greatly enhanced her physical strength and endurance. She had also taken pills that increased – for a temporary amount of time – the calcium and vitamin D in her body. This was done to allow her to be able to move in the planet, as otherwise the movement would be painfully excruciating. Still, it was taking her a great deal of exertion to move forward even with the exoskeleton’s support.

Staying there for a long amount of time would be too arduous but Iris was on a hit and run mission that would hopefully be completed in a less than an hour. The place? The Ktallan’Za military base. It was manned by orc Helian troopers; their physical strength made them much more dangerous enemies than the human Helian soldiers. The target? The generator which was powering up the entire base.

Iris and her squad of Alliance troopers had gotten to Xendia by making use of a mercantile freighter, slipping undetected into the planet and avoiding inspections thanks to use of stolen codes. Now they were inside the military base, having sneaked inside by means of a cargo container, and were walking through its dark, metallic corridors.

Iris was leading the way and behind her were the six highly trained Alliance troopers, equipped with exoskeletons and armed with laser rifles. After a few meters of silent walking, they reached a door secured by heavy spin screws. Iris pressed a button at the side of the door and the screws automatically retracted. The door swung open.

“From here we can head to corridor E,” one of the Alliance soldiers said in a thick accent. “The generator is down that corridor.”

Iris moved in first and the soldiers followed, their rifles raised and aimed forward. Their hands were at the triggers, ready to fire at the slightest sound or movement. A loud sound suddenly put an end to the silence. Laser beams were coming their way, ricocheting off the curving metal walls and illuminating the hallway.

“Provide me cover!” Iris ordered as she charged forward.

The Alliance soldiers were firing rapid fire at the other end of the hallway, putting on the defensive their Helian opponents. Iris, despite the excruciating pain she felt each time she made a rapid movement, managed to nimbly dodge the enemy fire as she moved forward. She could hear the cry of one of her soldiers, when he was shot on the left shoulder.

Iris closed her eyes and opened herself to the Qi all around her, feeling its power. It was energizing her, making her feel more alive than she had been in some time. She could feel the energy in her blood. She waved her hand and an energy wave was unleashed at the Helian troopers, pushing them across the corridor. Some bounced on the metallic floor, others on the door at the end of the hallway.

Iris rushed to the metallic door. Only one Helian trooper was left standing. He was a gargantuan - even by their standards - orc. Being too close to the sorceress to fire at her with his rifle, he instead threw away his weapon and swooped down on her; this was going to be a good, old fistfight. Iris dodged the strike, throwing up a side block. Using the orc’s own momentum against him, Iris whirled around the orc and whipped him to the ground. She felt a terrible ache on her back as whirling in such a high gravity planet was excruciating for her, but she tried to withstand it.

With the orc down, Iris rushed to a tiny touchscreen next to the door. “What is the code?” she asked her soldiers, who had arrived to the scene.

“5787689,” one of the six soldiers replied and Iris was quick to type it.

The door suddenly opened before them. “Come!” Iris said. “We’ve got work to do.”

The soldiers moved, rifles aiming forward, into the generator room. Iris was following closely behind.

“Room’s secure!” one the soldiers shouted.

“Room’s secure!” another soldier repeated.

Seeing that no one was inside, the Alliance troopers rushed to the various control panels. From there, and using the codes they had stolen, they could overpower the generator and cause it to explode. This would blow up the entire base.

Iris herself was tampering with the control panel nearest to the generator, a giant translucent cylinder that was glowing. She was able to quickly access the system controls thanks to her codes. As she was typing a sequence that would overcharge the generator, suddenly the generator began making a rumbling sound as if it was overcharging on its own.

“Did you activate the overcharging sequence?” Iris asked.

“No,” one of the trooper replied. “For the generator to overcharge, all control panels must activate the sequence.”

“Then why-“ Suddenly, power pulsed through the control panel and then coursed through her like a live wire. She immediately blacked out.

Iris was feeling a terrible headache as she opened her eyes. “Why did this panel ov-“

Iris was left speechless by the sight before her. She wasn’t on that Helian base anymore. “Nar-Sal!” she exclaimed. Immense sand dunes stretched before her, seemingly endless. But the desert was far from being a big, desolate hellhole. The soft light of early dawn was especially comforting. A cool wind was blowing across the desert. Iris loved the freshness of the desert air; it was clear, pure. The sky combined blushing tints of pink and a gold radiant color to form a picturesque scenery.

She let out a long sigh. She remembered. The memory brought a short-lived bright smile to her lips before bringing a tear to her eyes. “Nar-Sal…”

‘This can’t be real!’ she thought. She pinched herself. That certainly felt real. She kneeled and touched the sand, taking it in handfuls in her hands. She let it run, smooth and delightful, through her fingers. “It is real…”

Suddenly, she noticed a familiar figure appearing at the top of a sand dune, emerging from the early dawn. “Darren!” Iris joyfully shouted, relieved that someone else was there. She ran at him when a sight caused her to freeze. Another figure had emerged from the dunes; her younger self. Her younger self was a rather frail figure wearing an over-large brown coat, lacking the confident and dominant demeanor of her present self. Yet, she seemed far, far happier. She was holding tightly Darren’s arm. Her smile was one of happiness, coming from deep inside to light her eyes and spread into every part of her. Her cheeks had a rosy blush.

“What is happening?” Iris wondered aloud. “Am I dreaming? Was I knocked unconscious by the power surge? But… this feels so… real…” Iris felt lost. She was somehow reliving one of her sweetest yet long dormant memories. After Darren had rescued her from the pirates, they kept chasing after them. They weren’t about to let their slave elf escape so easily nor would they leave unavenged the deaths of so many of their comrades. They shot down Darren’s shuttle, leaving Darren and Iris stranded on the desert planet.

“The outpost shouldn’t be too far away,” Darren said to the younger Iris. “We should be able to make it there in two or three hours.” He paused for a few seconds. “Are you sure you can keep going? We’ve been walking for hours.”

“Don’t worry,” the younger Iris replied with a grin on her face. “I am stronger than I look. I can make it. Not to say that your company makes this trekking enjoyable. As long as you are by my side, I can go through hell itself and still smile.” She shot him a look full of love.

Their gazes lingered on one another. Darren’s hands drifted to her hip and pulled the younger Iris closer. She inhaled sharply. She felt his lips pressed against her own. It was a hot, fiery, passionate kiss, the kind she wanted to last forever. Iris couldn’t help but let out a sigh of disappointment seeing the young couple passionately kissing; she knew only too well how the story played out…

All of the sudden, a pitch dark blackness veiled everything. Iris panicked. She couldn’t see anything. “I…” Abruptly, Iris found herself in a cold metallic corridor that was dimly lit. “Am I back in the Helian base?” she wondered aloud. The loud sound of firefight echoed across the corridor. Iris turned around and saw her younger self desperately fighting back against a squad of Helian troopers.

Iris’ face became ashen white. An expression of pure terror dominated her face. She remembered this nightmare. It was a few months after she and Darren had returned to Alliance HQ. The then emerging hero introduced her to the Alliance and persuaded her to join their cause for a “just, free society”, as he put it. Iris didn’t need much persuasion to join the fight against the regime that was persecuting her race.

In that particular mission, she was tasked with using her booming magic abilities to infiltrate a Helian base and cause havoc. The distraction would allow Darren to lead a guerrilla attack on the base, striking quickly, stealing vital high-tech equipment and leaving. So would Iris, but she hadn’t fully mastered the art of magic yet; although she successfully infiltrated the base and caused a spectacular distraction, she found herself unable to escape.

Darren, instead of leaving after successfully snatching two cargo boxes filled with the latest Helian military tech equipment, led a charge deep inside the base to rescue Iris. He couldn’t bear to leave her to die. He disobeyed orders. He knew that enemy reinforcements were arriving and that the Helians were regrouping after the initial surprise but he decided to take the risk.

Explosions shook the ground. The Alliance soldiers were being gunned down by turrets and concentrated laser rifle fire. Man after man was shot down. Darren kept pushing forward, firing rapid shots with his laser pistol. Next to him, a soldier cried out as a laser beam hit him and dropped to the ground, holding his leg and writhing. “Hold on!” Darren cried out, trying to give courage to the man. Another man, an eighteen years old boy, screamed out in pain as several beams struck his body. Darren wanted to cry, but he fought back tears. He couldn’t afford to grieve. “Make all your shots count!” he shouted, trying to pretend they had a chance. They hadn’t… It wasn’t a battle, it was a massacre. A near-perfect guerrilla strike had turned into a disastrous defeat.

Iris cried uncontrollably watching Darren, all bloodied, sweaty and dirty, finally finding her younger self. Darren hugged her tightly for a few seconds, briefly forgetting they were in the middle of a warzone. They then made their way out of the base, running like they had never run before.

That was the moment their love cracked. Darren told her they could not fight together in the same unit again. They could not allow their emotions for each other to cloud their judgment. Both Iris and Darren focused entirely on the war effort, trying their best to make up for the disaster they had caused. They spent more time holding tightly on their weapons than seeing each other. Before, they would meet every day. Soon, it became once every week, then once every month. Not before long, they had become strangers.

A familiar blackness veiled everything. ‘Another memory?’ Iris wondered. When light reappeared, she was inside a spacious office. Darren was sitting on the metallic desk. His face was drained of all emotions, his gaze cold. Iris could see her younger self, equally emotionless, staring at Darren’s eyes. She was no longer frail like back in the sand dunes. She had a commanding demeanor, an aura of someone who had seen far too much bloodshed and had faced too many enemies. Yet she had none of the passion or cheery happiness of her earlier self.

“It’s over?” her younger self asked.

“It’s over,” Darren confirmed. “My hope is that we can be friends. We can still cherish the memories we have of each other and we can still support each other, even if we are no longer in love.”

Iris remembered only too well how… barren from emotions the whole breakup was. No hard feelings, no sadness, no anger, not happiness. Just a mutual understanding. “I agree,” her younger self said, breaking the brief silence. “Friends it is.”

Once again, blackness veiled everything before her. When Iris opened her eyes, she was lying on a metallic floor around some cargo boxes. Around her was her squad of six soldiers. “Is this…”

“Relax,” one of the men said. “You are safe. We are back on the mercantile freighter on which we came to Xendia. That power surge thankfully did not do any permanent damage to you.”

“What about the mission?”

“We managed to get out of the base just in time. The generator began overcharging on its own. We had to take you out of your exoskeleton and carry you out of the base. We barely made it. The entire facility was blown to pieces.” The soldier paused for a few seconds. “Are you alright?”

“I… I am fine,” Iris lied. She forced a smile, trying to hide her uneasiness. But in her mind, she couldn’t help but replay again and again the events that had taken place. ‘I miss it.’ Not Darren, he was but a friend now and whatever passion she had for him had long died. But the feeling of pure bliss she was feeling when she was melting in the hands of someone she passionately loved. ‘I should focus on the present. It is the war that matters, not my personal feelings.’

John, Sara and Nicole were walking in the building’s circular hall, heading for the elevator that would take them downward and allow them to leave the building. The hall’s floor and ceiling were grey. The ceiling had more than a few cracks on it. The three young sorcerers were passing through several apartments in their way towards the elevator when they heard a loud cry.

A suited man and the two muscled thugs were surrounding a young woman and her child, a boy no older than three or four years old. The suited man had well-combed short hair, almond-shaped eyes, snow-white skin and a dark full, straight moustache that originated on the corners of the mouth and grew downward past the clean-shaven lips and chin in two tapered "tendrils", extending past the jawline. He was wearing a white suit and matching trousers with a black silk tie.

“The money you owe us!” one of the thugs shouted. “Where is it?”

“I don’t have it,” the woman cried. “I barely make a living. Please! You must list-“

Before she could finish her sentence, she was slapped on the face. The slap was loud and painful. Her right cheek became bruised and she cried out in pain.

John looked at Sara and Nicole, asking for advice on what he should do. On the one hand, in order to avoid getting Helian attention, they needed to lie down and avoid trouble. On the other hand, they couldn’t just leave this woman and her child to be robbed – or worse – by those thugs.

“We need to avoid attention,” Sara whispered.

“We cannot leave them at the mercy of those gangsters!” Nicole countenanced. “We need to aid them.”

John was unsure of what to do when the thug grabbed the woman by the hair and threw her on the floor. That was far enough for John; he did not want to intervene and would prefer to avoid making a scene but he couldn’t let this continue. John sprinted forward, unexpectedly grabbed the thug and threw him on the floor as hard as he could.

“Who do you think you are?” said the second thug with a sneer as the first thug was getting up and ready to fight.

As the first thug was about to move against John, the suited man pushed him aside. “What have we got here?” the leader of the thugs chuckled. “A knight in shining armor?”

“No. You’ve got someone who can kick your ass if you do not let the mother and the boy alone.”

The two thugs were barely containing their anger but their leader stopped them from making any moves with a stern look that put them in their place. He then turned back his attention at John. “You know who I am?”

“A thug?”

The man laughed. “You’ve certainly got balls. I am Wang Jiadi. Does that name ring anything to you?”

John nodded in disapproval.

“New here, eh? That explains the boldness… Well, I am one of the top enforcers of the Boss. He owns the largest crime syndicate in the whole city. If you get on his wrong side or make trouble for him, you are done for. Understood?”

“I am not leaving you to bully a young woman and her child. Understood? I don’t want to fight you, trust me, but I will if you leave me no choice.”

Wang sighed. “Oh, well. I did try to find a peaceful solution. Men, get him!”

John knew he could not use magic here; it would single him out. He had to rely on his physical strength and martial training alone. The two thugs advanced on him, their hands balled into fists. John dashed at the two thugs and met them halfway. The first thug threw a punch at John, which he easily dodged, but the second thug kicked him in the knee, bringing John down on the floor.

The second thug raised his boot to bring it down on John’s head but Sara charged at him and punched the thug in the face. The second thug staggered backward from the blow. Nicole rushed too forward and took a defensive stance.

“Help the mother and the child back into their apartment,” John said. “I’ve got this.”

“But-“Sara tried to protest. She wanted to aid in the fight.

“They need your help more than I do!”

Nicole and Sara nodded, running towards the young woman and her child. They helped them head back into their apartment, trying to calm both of them down as they were crying and still in shock.

All this while John, who had risen back to his feet, was facing alone the two thugs. John ran at the two thugs with his fists lowered. The first thug tried to throw a punch at John, but John dodged it and responded with a punch of his own; the first thug fell flat on the floor, knocked out.

The second thug had taken out a laser knife and had activated it. Its bright red laser blade glowed. He tried to stab John but the young sorcerer grabbed the second thug’s wrist and twisted it, forcing the thug to drop the knife on the floor. John then kicked the man with a powerful back kick; a loud sound was heard as his leg hit the man’s face, knocking him out.

“Not bad,” Wang said, clapping loudly. “Not bad at all. You do have some good moves. Maybe you are interested in a business proposition?”

“What kind of proposition?” John asked, still on a defensive position and ready for combat. “I am not interesting in being a lackey for the local mafia, if that is what you mean.”

Wang laughed. “You’ve got quite the nerve. I like that. But no, I am not offering you a position in the gang. What I am offering you is the chance to participate in some… combat tournaments.”

“Combat tournaments?”

“Yes. You will be fighting against other warriors and every time you win, you shall get paid in cash. You will not have to do any racketeering nor bother any innocent refugee, so you don’t have to worry about compromising your… morality? Anyway, here is a card. Go to Casino ‘Young Prince’ and show it; you shall be allowed to see the Boss. He will tell you more about the job.” Wang handed over a card to John. “Don’t worry; you won’t be harmed regardless of your decision. Boss appreciates talents. But you must go meet him, alone that is, otherwise I cannot guarantee that last part.”

Wang shouted at his men to get up. The two thugs got up and followed Wang, leaving behind the apartments. Nicole and Sara had returned just in time to hear that last part of John’s conversation with Wang.

“I do not think it is a good idea to head there,” Nicole said. “You cannot trust those criminals, can you? Even if they are true to their word, you cannot work for those gangsters.”

“Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be another viable option,” John replied. “We do need to check this out if we are to get the cash we need to make our way out of the planet. As long as they don’t ask me to do any dirty work, I can consider this offer.”

“I agree with John on this one,” Sara interceded. “We don’t have that many options. Besides, if John does not go meet with that mobster, he will probably get offended and view us as enemies. We’ve already got the Helians after us; we do not need more enemies.”

“We should go back to the apartment and think more about this offer,” John said.

It was late in the evening. Nicole was soundly asleep, taking a nap. John and Sara, on the other hand, were sitting on the apartment floor and discussing Wang’s offer.

“You should accept it,” Sara said. “If you do go to that casino on your own though, you should be ready for combat.” She handed over to John her laser blaster. “This might help you.”

John took hold of the blaster. “Thanks. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you this question for quite some time: you do seem somewhat… less than fond of me?”

“What? Should I be fond of you?” Sara smiled.

“No. That’s not what I meant. It’s that you seem a bit… more hostile towards me. I mean, it isn’t the usual snarky attitude you have with others, it’s some deeper antipathy.”

“Well, you are right; I do dislike you,” Sara replied, her words stern and icy clear. “I don’t let it get in the way of missions nor am I going to act hostile all the time, but I indeed am less than fond of you.”

“Why?” John asked. “Arcadis?” John remembered how she had reacted when they first met, when she indirectly blamed him for the destruction of the city.

“Yes, I do blame you for the destruction of Arcadis,” Sara said, barely containing her anger. “You know why I become so emotional when I hear about its destruction? Because I grew up there! You know why I almost cried when I mentioned back in Al-Kwad that boy that taught me how to hack? Because we were friends together in Arcadis and he must have died in that bombardment. You destroyed a part of my life, forever.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Really? Is that all you have to say? You think a simple sorry suffices? That it can make up for all the damage you’ve caused?”

“I can never make up for it,” John replied. “I will have to forever live with the guilt of what I might have caused. What I can do though is fight. Fight to defeat the Helian regime. Fight to protect you. I will not let you get harmed in any way, ever again. I promise.”

“We had to drag you here and save your ass. I doubt you can accomplish such a task,” Sara quipped. She had a forced smile on her face, trying to hold back from showing her real emotions although her watery eyes did show a glimpse of them. She had to admit; that bastard was certainly good with words. She tried to quickly change the subject of discussion. “I suppose that being good with words is one of the reasons Nicole likes you.”

“What?” John wasn’t particularly surprised to hear that Nicole liked him but he was surprised to hear Sara mentioning this.

“You would have to be a moron to not realize she has taken a liking to you.”

“I’ve noticed. It’s just that… I do not have such feelings for her. I like her, but as a friend only.”

“You’ve got someone else on your heart?”

John closed his eyes for a brief moment. He knew it deep in his heart that there was a person that held sway over him, a person whose mere presence would be enough to electrify him; to make him excited and happy.

“Did I touch a nerve?” Sara chuckled. “Don’t tell me it’s me.” She lifted her hand to her forehead in a mock worried expression.

“No. It’s not you. I only see you as a friend,” John was quick to reply.

“Phew!” Sara let out a sigh of relief. “That would have been awkward, especially since I would have to turn you down. But who exactly is the girl that has stolen your heart? She must be really beautiful, eh?”

“Yes. She is beautiful – and unique to me.” John missed her. He hadn’t seen her since their training days in Thellasia; Iris. His brain was flooded with pictures of her, memories from olden times; her pretty face, her glistening teeth when she smiled, her scent, the sound of her voice and the touch of her skin. His chest ached as he thought of her.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes,” John replied, brought back from his memories. “I am going to the casino.”

John had a bit of trouble finding the ‘Young Prince’ Casino but, after half an hour of searching, he finally managed to find it. He walked through the golden door and entered a world of opulence. It was full of colorful slot machines, roulette wheels and blackjack tables, glamour girls and high rollers. The tables were spaced out under vaulted golden ceilings and chandeliers. Card dealers dressed in tuxedos were shuffling cards and gambling tables were packed high with stacks of chips. John was gaping in amazement.

He went to the teller’s cage, where people would buy tokens. John handed over the card Wang had given him to the middle-aged employee. He examined it carefully and made a call. A moment later, a muscular well-dressed bald man arrived on the scene.

“The Boss will see you now,” he said. There was no smile on his face; he was dead serious and his words were cold and precise.

“Alright,” John replied. “I will see him.”

The man led John to an elevator and they went to the twentieth floor. The door opened, revealing a spacious hall. Much like the rest of the casino, the ceiling was gold and so was the floor. Marble statues, priceless paintings and exotic plants decorated the place. Waiting for him was a short fellow, standing up with the help of long walking stick. He was wearing a brown fedora hat, an expensive black suit with matching trousers, and a red silk tie and was smoking a brown cigar. He had grey hair but was cleanly shaved, having no facial hair. His face was wrinkled, betraying his old age. He was somewhat fat, with his large belly showing. Standing beside him was Wang.

“He is the man I told you of,” Wang said, pointing at John.

The old man humphed. “Name is Jacob Mac Gramhan but everyone calls me the Boss. You don’t look that tough of a fighter though you must have skills if you impressed Wang.”

John put up an awkward smile. “Nice to meet you, sir. My name is John.”

“Enough with the formalities! I want to know; can you fight?”

John nodded. “I am a good enough fighter.”

“Good. I organize death tournaments. Yes, they are illegal but make me quite the profit and the police does not care since the chief gets his own cut from the gains. You can make quite the fortune if you agree to become a fighter in the tournament. We need new blood to keep things interesting.”

“I could fight,” John replied, “but I have no interest in death combat. I don’t mind killing if it is necessary to survive in battle but I am not doing it for cash.”

“Those you will fight are the scumbags of society – murderers, professional killers, veterans of wars. They are not innocent little kids. You can relax; you won’t have to be a bad guy. That is a role reserved for people like me who have the balls to do what it takes to get what we want.”

John thought about the offer for a moment. He couldn’t think of another job that could earn that much cash in a short time and they needed to get out of El Salvar as soon as possible. The ones he would have to fight were no innocent civilians. He relented and despite whatever doubts he still had, he bowed his head and accepted the offer. “I accept.” He let out a sigh.

The boss smiled. “Relax boy. You and I shall make a fortune, I can assure you of that. If you are competent enough that is.”

The middle-aged man walked out of the apartment with a knife on his hand. It was at that moment that Lutherson Snow made his presence known. "Planning to discard of the murder weapon?" he said as he revealed himself. A tall and lean man in his late thirties that was cleanly shaved and had short black hair and green eyes, he was wearing a brown tweed suit with a dark red tie.

The man grinned. "You sent me that threatening text, didn't you?"

"Yes," Lutherson replied. "I know that you killed Miss Agne and Miss Stern. I have all the evidence I need to get you in jail. You are a murderer and a bad one at that. I only needed a single day to solve the case. Three years ago, you murdered Miss Agne and made it looked like a burglary. No DNA or fingertips of the murderer were found. Yesterday, Miss Stern was killed in the same way; a supposed robbery gone wrong. Window was broken and jewelry and money were missing."

“So? What does this have to do with me? What makes you think those weren’t robberies gone wrong?”

“The glass; it indicated that Miss Stern knew her murderer. There was no broken glass inside the apartment. If the killer had entered through the window, there would have been broken glass all over the place. Instead, the broken glass seemed to have fallen down on the street. The killer must have broken the window from the inside once the victim was dead in order to give the impression that this was a burglary. This is the reason why the jewelry and money were missing too. If the killer entered through the front door, it meant that the victim knew the killer.”

The man’s face had become ashen white in terror.

“All I needed to do next,” Lutherson continued, “was to find out who from her circle wanted Miss Stern dead. I found out that she had an affair with you and that, interestingly enough, another lover of yours in the past, Miss Agne, was murdered in the same way. Way too coincidental. From there on, it was simply a case of trapping you in revealing your murder weapon with a psychological game.”

The man laughed. "Oh? If you have evidence, you would have already taken it to the police. You cannot prove anything."

"I can. The knife and equipment you have in the apartment match exactly the ones that allowed you to stage the fake robberies and murder the two innocent women."

The man grinned. "How are you going to prove it? I have cleaned them and will be soon disposing of them. You cannot do a thing to stop me. Even if you stop me from disposing them, you will have a hard time persuading anyone that I am the killer. Your evidence is circumstantial and based on guessing. I have committed the perfect crime twice and you cannot prove it."

"Of course they will not believe me... but they might believe you." Lutherson showed him his recording device. “Aside from that, they all heard you just now admit the crime.”

The man pulled a laser pistol and aimed it at the detective. “What the fuck are you talking about? There is no one here aside from you! Give me the device or you will be my third victim.”

Lutherson grinned. “Do you think I would have come here, to face a dangerous murderer, all by myself? The place is surrounded by cops.” Lutherson took a few steps forward. He kept smiling and was walking with steely confidence. “Drop the weapon or you will drop dead.”

“Don’t approach!” the man shouted as Lutherson walked towards him. He trembled in fear. When the detective was only a few steps away from him, he threw away his gun. “I surrender.”

Lutherson punched him right in the face, knocking him out. “Good thing he believed this lie about the cops being here. I cannot believe how those criminals who organize such ingenious plans manage to fall for the oldest trick in the book…”

Hours later, in a night club, Lutherson was sipping some fine whiskey. The loud music and strobe lights gave him more of a headache than any alcohol drink could, yet he still liked coming here for the whiskey. He was sitting upon a barstool. The bartender, a young hot woman, was smiling at him. Lutherson was smiling back but he wasn’t in the mood for flirting. The killer had been apprehended by the police and now Lutherson was anxiously waiting for the next case.

“Lutherson Snow?” a military-looking man asked him. “The famous police detective?”

“Yup,” Lutherson nonchalantly replied. “The one and only.”

“Sergeant Mike Roberts!”

Lutherson had heard that name before. “Veteran of the battle of Austerland and of the war in Vandana. Most recently you also blew up an Alliance base on the AKL-89 region. You are a hero of the Helian Realm.”

“Indeed. And you have put behind bars many dangerous criminals, including that psychopath Javar.”

“Yup,” Lutherson nodded. “He was killed during an escape attempt I’ve heard. But what brings you here sergeant?”

“I’ve got orders from Admiral Heinrich to capture three Alliance soldiers who crashed on the planet and who carry important files of X-Corp,” Mike replied. “Aside from the fact that he was ordered personally by a son of the Chancellor to undertake this mission, the admiral has a personal reason to be concerned. One of the fugitives, named John Haidt, is well-known to the admiral. He might well be a sorcerer.”

“Interesting story,” Lutherson said as he sipped his whiskey, “but what does it have to do with me?”

“You are the best police detective in the El Salvar – probably in the entire Helian Realm. The admiral has contacted the police chief and he has given us the ok to cooperate. With your aid, those fugitives will be caught in no time. You’ve got the brains to find out where that sorcerer and his friends are and I’ve got the martial prowess to finish them off…”

Lutherson stood up and laughed. He was barely able to contain his excitement. “At last! A challenge worthy of my deductive skills! Let the search begin!”